Her Cowboy Knight Page 7

  He said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you… that I was training, I mean. It was meant to be a surprise for you.”

  Gabby’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s not your fault, Eamon. I’m not mad at you.” She dropped her arm over his shoulder. “Actually, I came to ask you a favor.”

  Eamon looked up at her. “What’s that?”

  Gabby sighed. “Well, it doesn’t look like I’ll be back for a couple of months, at least until the end of Texas. Will you look after Thaddeus for me? I don’t really trust anyone else to make sure he gets the right attention. They are all so wrapped up in their own worlds and not quite sensitive enough.”

  Eamon looked forward again, excitement almost reverberating through him. “Really? Can I ride him, too?”

  Gabby smiled and gave a half laugh. “Only if Declan supervises. I mean it. I’m leaving you on your honor. I don’t want you getting hurt, but he will need exercise, and I can’t think of anyone better.”

  Eamon threw his arms around her. “Gabby, you really are the best.”

  Gabby hugged him to her and felt the first of the tears break through. “Go on. I’ve got to get going or the cowboy will get grumpy. Take care of yourself, okay?”

  Eamon said, “I will… and Gabby… you too, okay?”

  * * *

  As soon as she was gone, Declan said, “This is wrong. Dead wrong. I’ve seen that girl ride when she could hardly sit on a chair, let alone a horse, and now you’re saying she can’t ride because she’s had a temper tantrum? Well, it’s bullshit. Liam, I’ve never gotten between you and your children, but you’ve just crushed that girl, and it was wrong. I wished I’d spoken up while she was in here. She’s done everything you’ve ever asked of her, including ride through grief, heat, snow, pneumonia… you asked, she performed. I don’t know what you’re pulling, but to make her think you don’t want her, it’s cruel. Now, am I too hot-headed to ride, too?” He spun on his heel and stalked out of the stable to gear up to ride.

  Cooper looked at both of Gabby’s dumbstruck parents and followed Declan out the door of the stable. He found the older man just outside the door, where the tall redhead had stopped to lean against the wall. Declan called out, “Hey, Harris.”

  Cooper stopped and turned, intrigued enough to hear the man out. Declan continued, “Look, you can’t wrap Gabby in cotton. She’s a tough girl, and smart. If you’re the sort to mollycoddle a girl, or treat her as if she hasn’t a brain in her head, you might as well just walk away now.”

  Cooper said, “That so? Well, it sounded to me as if you lot didn’t seem to value her much.”

  Declan looked to the barn. “I don’t know what game her da’s playin’, but we value her just fine. I’m just sayin’, she’s not a girly girl who will be happy being treated like that, is all.”

  Cooper nodded once. “Well, thanks for the warning. I don’t exactly know what happened in there just now, but I’m going to do my best to sort it out. All I can say is that I care for Gabby… a lot.”

  Declan nodded. “I reckon that’ll do for now. Just keep in mind what I said.” With that he headed off toward the paddock where he grabbed Gabby in a quick hug, then wrangled Eamon away from the couple.

  Cooper stood about three feet from the paddock. She didn’t turn to look at him. He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and rubbed the back of his neck. Well, hell, now what did he do? When he heard a slight sob and saw her shoulders hitch, he sighed and stepped forward. Her body remained stiff in his arms for a moment, then she turned and melted into his chest.

  He laced his fingers in her hair and rocked her against his chest. He felt her flinch when the announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen… lords and ladies…”

  He squeezed her tighter. “Come on, baby, why don’t you get changed, and we’ll get on the road.”

  Gabby slipped her chainmail over her head and threw it over the rail. “Can we just go?”

  Cooper hugged her again. “Yes, we can go.”

  They laced their fingers as they walked toward the truck. Gabby waited until they were near the truck, then asked in a small voice, “Cooper? Are you going to spank me?”

  Cooper lifted her into the truck, then climbed in himself. He looked down over the sunglasses he had just put on and said, “What do you think?”

  Gabby didn’t have to think. She knew good and well from the second she had started her diatribe back there in the barn what the outcome would be, but she had been angry enough then to think that it wouldn’t matter when it came down to it… now, it mattered.

  Chapter Six

  The ride back to the ranch seemed both too long and too short as far as Gabby was concerned. When they pulled up in front of the house, Cooper turned off the engine. Gabby tried to make herself as small as possible in the truck as she pressed herself against the door. Cooper looked at her. “Gabby, are you scared of me?”

  His question startled her so much that her eyes shot to his, and the hint of vulnerability behind his direct look surprised her even more than his question did. She realized she hadn’t answered yet. “I’m sorry, what?”

  He asked again. “Are you scared of me?”

  Gabby shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face. “No, Cooper, I’m not scared of you. Not really.”

  Cooper gave a sad little smile. “Then why have you been huggin’ that door for the last thirty miles like you wanted to jackrabbit right out of it?”

  Gabby looked at the door, then back at at Cooper. She half-grinned. “I’m not scared of you, Cooper. I’m scared of the spanking you’re going to give me. I know it’s going to hurt, and until it’s over, you’re the one who’s going to give it to me.”

  Cooper climbed out of the truck and walked around to her side. When he opened her door, Gabby held her arms out to him. He wrapped her in a big hug and just held her against his chest. “I couldn’t handle it if you were scared of me, baby.”

  Gabby buried her head in his neck. “I’m sorry I made you feel bad, Cooper. I didn’t mean to. This has been such a disaster of a day.”

  Cooper closed the door of the truck and started walking toward the house.

  He carried Gabby straight to his room and set her on his bed. He disappeared into the bathroom.

  Gabby heard water running, then Cooper stepped back into the doorway of the bathroom. When Gabby looked up at him this time, he said, “I ran you a bath. You go ahead and get cleaned up. We’ll talk when you are finished.”

  With that, he left the room quietly, closing the door and leaving Gabby alone in his bedroom. She walked into the bathroom and shut off the water in the antique iron bathtub. She kicked off her boots and pulled off her tights and tunic. When she sank into the tub, she gave an audible groan, leaned her head back, and briefly let the day slide away from her.

  All too soon, the water cooled and she knew her respite was over. She climbed out of the water and dried off, then wrapped herself in a towel and went in search of Cooper.

  She didn’t have to go far to find him. He was sitting on the side of his bed when she opened the bathroom door, and in his hand he held something that truly did scare Gabby… a wooden-backed hairbrush.

  She stopped just inside the bedroom, clutching her towel around her, looking at the braided rug between them, tracing the circle patterns with her eyes, trying to figure out how to keep him from using that thing on her bottom. She even calculated the distance to the door, but discounted that idea as she didn’t fancy giving the ranch a peep show.

  Gabby bit her lip and met Cooper’s eyes. This time she found no hint of self-doubt in them, and she found that oddly comforting. It gave her the courage to take the first few steps toward him. When she got close, he set down the brush and drew her to stand between his legs. He unwrapped her towel and let it fall to the floor, leaving her naked. She immediately tried to cover herself, but he grabbed her hands. “No, little girl, hold your hands at your sides. Now tell me about today.”

  Gabby looked at him and stammered,
“Y-you were there. It was awful.” Her hands started creeping back around to cover herself, and she looked down at his boots.

  Cooper tipped her chin up with his fingers. “I want to hear it from you, and I want to hear what happened before I was there to make you so angry. I know something happened, and I want to give you a chance to tell your side of things.” He reached down and grabbed her hands. Holding them at her sides, but also rubbing her wrists in slow circles to calm her.

  Gabby closed her eyes. “Da told me he had replaced me on the joust with Eamon and Seamus and that I was no longer needed. I should stay here. Then you, you told me I couldn’t ride, and Leo backed you up. I’ve always been able to ride. Everyone knows I can always ride, or they always have. You don’t know me, but they do. I don’t blame you, it’s not your fault, but they know me. I can ride anything, anytime, anywhere.”

  Cooper broke in then. “See, there is where you’re wrong, Gabby. You were so angry, I don’t even think you know how out of control you were. I was just looking out for you and the horse.”

  Gabby closed her eyes. “We will never agree on this, Cooper. I could have ridden. I would have calmed down before I ever got on Thaddeus, just by being near him. You don’t know me, and you don’t know what I can do. But they do. You’re going to spank me. And I deserve it. But not for that. I deserve it for having that temper fit and blurting out all that stuff and hurting everyone, but I could have ridden.”

  Cooper shook his head. “What about cursing at Leo?”

  Gabby hardened her eyes. “He had it coming for backing you against me. They’ve watched me ride in the rain when I was too feverish to stand. I think that would have been the time to be all noble and speak up, don’t you? Not when they conveniently had a replacement and had me paired off with a prime stud.”

  Cooper reached out and cupped the back of her head. “Okay, you get a pass on cussing Leo, but if I hear any more language like that from your mouth, I’ll wash it out with soap, understand?”

  Gabby grimaced, but nodded.

  Cooper sighed and brought her forehead to touch his. “Baby girl, this has been one hell of a day.” She nodded against him, looking forlorn. “And I can say honestly that this is one spanking that I don’t want to give. I don’t feel like you’re entirely at fault here, because you were provoked, and it’s between you and your family.”

  Gabby felt a surge of hope but also a twinge of letdown, then Cooper continued. “But that tantrum you threw… It was beyond all bounds. I can’t let it go. Maybe if I hadn’t seen it myself, I don’t know, but I just can’t let it go. Your temper is going to get you in real trouble one of these days if you don’t learn to control it, okay?”

  Gabby nodded her head and moved in for a hug, which Cooper gave without any hesitation, but he didn’t linger too long before he tipped Gabby over his left knee and set right into warming her bottom until it was an even shade of pink down to the top of her thighs.

  She did pretty well, until he paused to pick up the hairbrush. She turned her head and caught sight of the brush, then looked back at him. “No, Cooper, really, I’ll be good. I mean it. Please don’t use that.”

  She tried to wiggle off his knee, so he clamped his arm over her body and pinned her legs between his. When she realized she was pinned she started struggling harder, but by then he had started bringing the brush down, and he didn’t miss. By the fifth stroke she was howling for him to stop. He didn’t. She struggled against him for the entire spanking, trying to leverage her torso to an upright position against the strength of his arm, but he never budged. His stern voice kept up a steady stream of scolding even as his right arm never missed its target, and he covered every bit of her bottom and the tops of her thighs four or five times, sometimes hitting one spot several times in a row, especially the undersides of her bottom cheeks, which got special attention with that wicked implement.

  Long after Gabby had started sobbing in earnest, Cooper laid the brush against her bottom. He rubbed her back until he felt her relax some. When his rubbing moved to her bottom, it both inflamed and soothed at the same time, but she didn’t react. She just lay there, still hitching a sobbing breath every once in a while.

  He sat her up on his lap and hugged her to his chest. She curled into his neck and let him rock her back and forth, his hand splayed across her blazing bottom. She heard the rumbling of his chest first, but eventually his words reached her. “…and I hated to make you cry so much after such a rough day. I just want to wrap you in my arms and make it better.”

  Gabby moved her hand to his chest and traced circles with her fingertip. “It has been an awfully horrible day, Cooper.”

  Cooper tweaked her hair. “I know, baby.”

  Gabby dropped her voice. “Why don’t you wrap me in your arms and… make it better?”

  Gabby buried her head in his shoulder at her own boldness. Cooper chuckled and rolled her underneath him, his hand roaming to her breast. She raised her eyes to his, and he lowered his lips to hers in a kiss. As he raised his head, she said, “You still have on too many clothes, cowboy.”

  He gave her his crooked grin and raised an eyebrow. “Do I now?”

  She nodded. “Definitely.”

  As he started unbuttoning his shirt, his smile turned predatory. “Well, never let it be said that I won’t oblige a lady.”

  Gabby watched as he removed the rest of his clothes, slightly shocked by the size of him when his jeans finally freed his manhood. She couldn’t stop looking at him. Sure she’d seen men naked before, but never one so well formed.

  He chuckled. “My eyes are up here.”

  Gabby blushed magenta all the way from her toes up. “I-I, I’m sorry. I mean, we’ve been naked, but…”

  Cooper leaned down and kissed her. “But I didn’t know it was your first time, and rushed like it was mine. God, you are so beautiful.” He lay on the bed, his penis standing proudly out from him. “You can touch it if you want.”

  Gabby reached forward, and gave it just the slightest brush with her fingers, embarrassment forgotten in her curiosity. Cooper caught his breath, and Gabby drew her hand back. “Did I hurt you?”

  Cooper huffed a few times. “No, baby, you didn’t hurt me. Go ahead, you can touch me as much as you want.”

  Gabby reached for him again, this time a little more confidently. When Cooper couldn’t stand it any longer, she found herself on her back staring up at his hooded expression. She pouted. “But you said I could explore as long as I wanted.”

  “I lied.”

  Gabby found her hands pinned above her head while Cooper’s lips wandered to one of her breasts. She hadn’t known they were so sensitive, and she writhed underneath him.

  He raised his head. “Be still.”

  “I can’t, Cooper.”

  He didn’t answer, just went to the other nipple. When she writhed again, he pinned her down with one hand. He moved down from there, making his way south to place a kiss right over the top of her pubic bone.

  When he raised his head to look at her, Gabby caught her breath at the heat in his eyes. Cooper spread her legs. “Oh, sweet Jesus, I am a lucky man. Honey, you are so wet.”

  He ran his fingers through her slit, proving his point. He pressed for entry, causing Gabby to gasp. He drew his finger out and ran it up beside her clit, teasing just enough to have Gabby’s hips circling with his movements. He lowered his head and followed with a lap of his tongue.

  Gabby fisted her hands in his hair and gasped his name. Cooper raised his head. “Are we going to have to have some rules for your hands to keep them from getting in the way?”

  Gabby looked at her hands as if they had somehow acted on their own, then shook her head.

  Cooper said, “Then stop trying to keep me from my business.”

  He lowered his head again and feathered his tongue through her slit. This time, Gabby moaned and raised her hips to his ministrations. Her hands stayed fisted in the sheet instead of his hair.

  When
he had driven her to several orgasms, Cooper stopped playing and got down to business. He took care of the birth control issue and brought her bottom closer to him, raising her legs over his shoulders to open her fully to him. Gabby felt so exposed and vulnerable, but she trusted Cooper and knew he would take care of her.

  He placed the head of his cock right at her more-than-prepared opening and flexed his hips, entering her slightly. He didn’t press deeper, letting her get a feel for just that slight amount of penetration, but she wanted more, so she flexed her own hips up to meet him.

  He sucked in a breath. “Jesus, Gabby, I’m trying to go slow here so you can get used to me.”

  She put her lips to his ear. “What makes you think I want to go slowly, cowboy?”

  He chuckled. “You know what happens to little girls who play with fire?” He raised her bottom up and smacked her three times. “They get burned. I do the drivin’. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.” She flexed her internal muscles on him. “So are you going to be doin’ that drivin’ anytime soon?”

  He shook his head. “Oh, little girl, you are asking for it.”

  But he started driving his hips, first in a steady rhythm, then in a harder one that had her gasping and moaning. Since Cooper was so close, it didn’t take very long for him to reach his conclusion. He spread Gabby’s legs and hugged her close to him. “I should have waited for you. Damn, you drive me wild. Just give me about fifteen minutes, and I’ll make it up to you.”

  It was more like two hours, but boy, did he sure make up for it.

  * * *

  The next morning, Cooper asked Gabby to go along with him when he went to the Jacobs’ ranch to help Susan’s father with roundup. For years, both ranches had pooled resources to gather the cattle for both operations so they could get by with less extra staff hired. Gabby saw this as a great opportunity for her to integrate into the community, even if it meant spending more time with Susan.

  As it happened, Gabby ended up spending way too much time with the other girl. As soon as Cooper announced that Gabby had never been on a ranch for roundup before, Susan’s father Hank suggested that Susan show Gabby around the barns while he and Cooper got the gear together.